


Day 252

by Josh_the_Bard



Series: A Year in Kirkwall [252]
Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age II
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-10
Updated: 2020-09-10
Packaged: 2021-03-06 18:22:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 701
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26383324
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Josh_the_Bard/pseuds/Josh_the_Bard
Series: A Year in Kirkwall [252]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1589257
Kudos: 1





	Day 252

Varric made his way to the Viscount’s keep sometime in the midmorning. The auction had been a success, despite the attempted robbery, and he would soon be making a very generous donation to the city’s reconstruction efforts, less ten percent of course. He had been so busy dealing with the administrative aftermath (it probably took longer than necessary because Varric hated that part of events) and had not gotten around to checking in on the elven thieves. He had to admit to a certain level of professional admiration. They had gotten past his guards and managed to get the forgeries into the auction house undetected. But they were not quite as good as Varric. 

Varric was curious who would go to all the trouble to get their hands on the last remaining heirlooms of house Harromot. King Bhelan’s representatives had been the ones to buy the real ones last night, so he was ruled out as a suspect. It could have been Renvil Harrowmot trying to reclaim his family’s possessions. If that was the case Varric felt a little bad for denying him but the city needed the money more than some lordling needed his grandfathers’ old things. 

“Varric,” Avilene said by way of greeting. It was far from friendly, but by no means the least welcome greeting he had received here.

“What trouble are you bringing to me today?” she asked. 

“No trouble,” he said, throwing his hands up in supplication. “I was just wondering if   
I had missed the interrogation.”

“You’ve missed many interrogations,” Avilene replied, “which makes sense since you’re not a guard. Was there one in particular you are asking about.”

“The thieves I caught in the auction house the other night,” Varric said. When Aveline only gave him a blank look he continued. “Two elves, no valasleen, darker skin. One in his early thirties the other no more than a teenager. Last I saw them they were being hauled away by your guards.”

“Nobody reported a theft from the auction house and our jail had no one by that description. Who made the arrest?”

“Uh,” Varric had to think a moment before answering, “Guardsmen Niklas. He said he was a newer recruit but he seemed to know what he was doing.”

“Niklas,” Aveline muttered, wandering over to her ruster. “Niklas… Niklas… No one in the guard by that name. It looks like you’ve been had.” The amused smile on her face stung more than it should have. Varric had been outfoxed on his home turf. Aveline’s grin dropped away as suddenly as it had appeared.

“With so many new recruits joining the ranks, the guard pretenders might have decided to start back up again. This could be disastrous for the guard’s reputation, and just after I managed to drag it out of the mud.”

“Never mind your guards,” Varris said. “I have two thieves on the loose who tried to rob me.”

He fled the keep to the auction house as quickly as he could with Aveline hot on his heels. They entered the vault and Varric tore the place apart looking for the forgerie, they were nowhere to be found.

“What are you looking for?” Aveline asked. 

Varric almost answered her but held back. He had assumed they had switched the forgeries for the genuine artifacts and that he had caught them on their way out. But if they had only let him think that, he would have made the switch himself after he had caught them. Varric might have put up the forgeries for auction that night and then tossed the real items in storage, where they were not as heavily guarded as they had been the night of the auction. If word got out that Behlen had been sold forgeris, every Carta assassin in the Free Marches would be after his head, hoping to curry favor with the King. With both sets gone, he had no way to verify which ones were genuine, but neither did Bhelen, not if Varric didn’t tell him.

“Varric, What are you looking for?” Aveline asked again.

“Just checking that nothing was missing,” Varric said. “It looks fine, but you might want to look into those guard impostors.”


End file.
